The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 732

Hearing Harvey Weinstein's words, Steve didn't dare treat the matter lightly. He quickly replied, "Warner Bros. rejected our request." He elaborated, "I pushed hard and went to Toby Emmerich, the executive in charge of the project, but he refused. Then I went to Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara, but he had me thrown out."

Harvey's brow furrowed.

Steve added, "They wouldn't even give me a chance to negotiate."

It was both an excuse and the truth. Warner Bros. had absolutely no intention of negotiating.

Harvey's expression soured. "A bunch of greedy bastards! If I hadn't stepped in, would New Line Cinema have ever managed to consolidate the film rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit?!"

Back in the mid-nineties, he had been the first one who wanted to make a film based on The Lord of the Rings. At the time, he was in talks with Peter Jackson, but between his desire to make only a single film and the complicated rights issues, the project never materialized.

Later, New Line Cinema, which had since been acquired by Warner Bros., got involved. With their help, the rights issue was resolved, and only then did The Lord of the Rings trilogy finally see the light of day.

He, in turn, had also invested in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but his caution resulted in a very small investment percentage and, consequently, limited profits.

The enormous success of the trilogy was precisely what had soured his relationship with Warner Bros.

This year, Peter Jackson was ready to collaborate with New Line Cinema again to film The Hobbit, the prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but Warner Bros., New Line Cinema's parent company, had stepped in directly and taken firm control of the project.The Lord of the Rings trilogy had been a massive hit, and according to an agreement with New Line Cinema signed back when he was at Miramax, he had the right to invest in The Hobbit.

Now, The Hobbit could easily be called a continuation of a blockbuster franchise, and the probability of a successful investment was extremely high.

Moreover, the director was still Peter Jackson.

It was said that Peter Jackson planned to make two to four films out of The Hobbit, and due to the enormous investment required, Warner Bros. intended to cover part of the costs through external financing.

That was why he had brought up his agreement with New Line Cinema, which had led to his current predicament.

"Didn't they give you a reason?" Harvey asked, his face grim.

Even if Warner Bros. held a grudge against him, they had to have a valid reason, didn't they?

Steve shook his head. "No, they simply refused to negotiate with me... with us."

Since Warner Bros. was developing several major projects at once, especially Green Lantern at the start of the DC superhero cinematic universe, its own funds were limited.

Harvey stood up and paced back and forth a few times. The Hobbit had a high chance of success, and he had an agreement with New Line Cinema; he couldn't just give up such a great money-making opportunity.

Although the investment share was just over ten percent, on a production of this massive scale, the profits from that percentage would likely be greater than what he earned from two entire awards seasons.

"I'll talk to that bastard Kevin Tsujihara myself," Harvey declared suddenly.

"Ah..." Steve blurted out, unable to contain his surprise.

Harvey Weinstein caught his expression and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Well, boss..." Steve said faintly. "They probably won't let you in..."

The remark reminded Harvey that while he hadn't completely burned his bridges with Warner Bros., their relationship was far from pleasant. He might not even be able to get inside the Warner building.

Harvey Weinstein thought for a few seconds and replied, "Get me Kevin's schedule and find out if he has any public events coming up. I'll corner him and talk to him somewhere he can't get away."

"I think there is, yes," Steve said after a moment's thought. "Before they threw me out, I overheard him on the phone with someone. He said he was attending a charity reception hosted by the Los Angeles Charity Association next Saturday night."

Harvey nodded. "Confirm he'll be at the reception, and get me an invitation."

"Right," Steve replied.

Harvey leaned back against the sofa and waved a dismissive hand at Steve, who hurriedly left the suite.

As the door closed, Harvey contemplated his next move. Although he had a clear written agreement with New Line Cinema, he wanted to avoid litigation at all costs, as it would mean a long, drawn-out affair.

As he mulled it over, his thoughts suddenly drifted to Matthew Horner. What actor wasn't tempted by an Oscar?

He couldn't know for sure, but one thing was certain: if Matthew ever wanted an Oscar, Harvey would have a way to control him.

Helping someone win the Oscar for Best Actor wasn't something even he, with his many successes, could guarantee one hundred percent. But derailing someone's successful campaign? That was well within his power.

Fast & Furious 4, starring Matthew Horner, had become another major success. He was now a commercial powerhouse, and with a franchise to back him up, it was likely only a matter of time before he set his sights on an Oscar.

The corners of Harvey Weinstein's mouth stretched into a smile, but then his brows furrowed again. The box office numbers for Fast & Furious 4 were simply too enviable.

As the weekdays began, the popularity of Fast & Furious 4 dipped slightly, but supported by a high number of showtimes and buzzing topics, its performance remained strong.

On Monday, the single-day box office dropped by only 52% from Sunday, settling at $18.7 million. As expected, Tuesday saw a slight rebound to $19.6 million. Wednesday and Thursday followed the typical pattern for most commercial films with a steady decline, earning $17.7 million and $15.9 million, respectively.

Heading into the new week, Fast & Furious 4 crossed the $200 million mark in North America after just seven days in theaters.

Furthermore, Fast & Furious 4 became the first film in the North American market in 2009 to gross over $200 million.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Pacific, the popularity of Fast & Furious 4, which had been released early, was gradually declining. Still, it had brought in a handsome profit.

Of course, Matthew was well aware that Fast & Furious 4 wouldn't hold the box office crown for long, not with James Cameron's Avatar on the horizon.

This past weekend, Fast & Furious 4 also opened in many overseas countries and regions, especially in Europe, Australia, and Latin America—traditional markets for Hollywood films. The movie became the weekly box office champion in most regions where it was released, pulling in $128.9 million in a single weekend from over sixty foreign markets, including the Pacific region, pushing its global gross toward the $400 million mark.

However, in its second weekend in North America, Fast & Furious 4 faced two new challengers: Night at the Museum 2 from 20th Century Fox and Terminator Salvation from Warner Bros.

The former cost $150 million to make, while the latter had a massive budget of $200 million.

These two heavyweights shared a rare distinction—they were squeezed into the weekend before Memorial Day, one of the best slots of the summer.

Considering that X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Star Trek were already in theaters before Fast & Furious 4, with Pixar's Up set to release the following weekend, the North American box office in May was thick with smoke, and the competition was extremely fierce.

There were six top-tier commercial blockbusters alone!

Having already broken away from the pack of concurrently running films like Wolverine and Star Trek, Fast & Furious 4 was unlikely to be overtaken by newcomers like Night at the Museum 2 and Terminator Salvation.

Although the film was now in its second week, its lead over the opening weekends of Night at the Museum 2 and Terminator Salvation wasn't particularly large, but it still managed to hold on to the number one spot at the North American box office.

The following weekend, Fast & Furious 4 took in another $56.5 million, remaining in first place. Night at the Museum 2 successfully edged out Terminator Salvation, leveraging its all-ages appeal to take second place with $51.4 million. Despite starring Christian Bale, Terminator Salvation suffered from poor reviews. Relying on brand recognition, it grossed $42.1 million, landing in third place. Star Trek and Wolverine took fourth and fifth place, respectively.

After its second weekend, Fast & Furious 4 was on a steady course toward the $300 million mark at the North American box office.

It was on that same weekend that Matthew received an invitation to a charity reception from the Los Angeles Charity Association.

(As for the six films released in May, they were all released during this time frame, with the exception of Angels & Demons starring Tom Hanks, which has been replaced by Fast & Furious 4.)